it comes in pints?

So Disney didn't dink with the plot?

Thank God. I saw an ad for it and I thought, "Oh, they made it all smoochy and fantasy-ey and they changed the BIG IMPORTANT THING about the book."

that said, since nothing has apparently been given away (or perhaps I live under a rock), there are going to be a number of folk who've never read BTT before - some who won't even realize it was a book - who are gonna get smacked between the eyes...

Ricki,
In one of the interviews I linked above, David Paterson did say "there is a tragedy" in the film, so it looks like that bit didn't change. That's kind of why I'm so glad he's the one on board, because that would have been something really important to him, given that his mother wrote the book about his own tragedy.

But yeah, I was really worried about it when I first saw the trailers. I thought, "oh god, they've gone and LOTR'd it all up," like the way Tim Burton screwed up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to make it all about Willy Wonka's daddy issues, when the whole goddamm point of the story was supposed to be about Charlie being rewarded for being a good kid.

How did I not hear of this book? It would've been right up my alley when I was a kid. (Another blog I read already gave away the tragedy--although not for the reason you might think. She totally remembered it differently and recalled it as something of the "to be or not to be" variety, if you catch my drift.

Kate,
If you still enjoy reading kids books as an adult (and I'll confess - I do sometimes, for a little light reading. I read The Mouse and the Motorcyle last weekend. What a great book!), definitely check it out. It's really amazing and beautifully touching.

Some of my favorite books are considered kiddie lit. (And I'll be studying more of that next quarter considering I'm working on becoming a school librarian!) One of my all-time favorites is "Up from Jericho Tel" by E.L. Konigsburg.

My Ladybug saw the trailers and got that same glinty look, Emily. =D If they screw with one of her absolute favorite books there will be a furious rampage.

Nightlfy,
Do the Ladybug a favor - if she's not likely to have read those interviews on her own, print them out for her. There are some very sweet moments in the interview where David talks about how his mother gave him the book to read when he was a little boy and told him if he didn't like it or it upset him too much, she promised she wouldn't publish it. As he said, it's odd to think of those sorts of decisions hinging on the verdict of an 8-year-old kid, but I just think that was such a lovely gesture.

It all sounds so interesting, knowing what went into the story.

Consider it done! Thanks for the suggestion.

Kate,
It is, and it's part of what makes the whole thing so moving. And I just loved the parts where Paterson was talking about the problems he had when he initially started trying to get the movie made - being told by tool movie execs that "nobody's going to want to see a kid movie; there's no money in family movies." Nowadays, family movies are where they're putting all their money.

Nightfly,
If she's a big fan of the book, I think she'll like reading them. Paterson's not one of those arrogant asshole "making movies is the most important thing in the world, by extention making me very, very important" kind of people.

I'm waiting for them to make "A Wrinkle in Time" - or did they already? I think I'm term-limited out on this one, in the on beyond geezer category.

DirtCrahr,
They did. I've neither seen it, nor read the books, though based on endorsements, I should at least try the latter. Someday.

Bridge to Terabithia is probably my all time favorite book - one of the few I remember reading more than once as a kid (or as an adult). It's actually a movie that I'm willing to go to the theater to see.

As for A Wrinkle In Time? No shit, they made that a movie? I loved that book too (again, one of the few that I read more than once).

If I have some time to do any reading, I'm going to have to dig these two out of the old bookshelf.

Wrinkle in Time was (I think) produced as a made-for-tv movie. I didn't see it (partly because it was on on one of the many, many evenings when my life keeps me from being at home). I heard though that L'Engle hated it, and I tend to feel like if a book's original author hates a movie made of it, I may not want to see the movie. ("Breakfast at Tiffany's" notwithstanding.)

I think the reason Paterson is more down-to-earth about this is that he's NOT a lifetime movie exec; he's more a normal guy wanting to make a beloved book - in which he had a major part - into a movie.

I love the fact that his mom gave it to him to read first and told him she'd not publish it if it upset him too much; that's just such a HUMAN (and humane) gesture. Totally the sort of thing the "movie tools" Emily was talking about would not get.

Huh.

I saw the commercials for this book and didn't realize I had read this book (6th grade, IIRC) because all the special effects made me think it was a completely different thing. I don't recall any such magic emphasis in the book. Am I just imagining things (particularly, since the book never suggests they're doing anything but playing make-believe, right?)? I remember the book being about dysfunctional families, coming-of-age stuff, dealing with tragedy, etc. The commercials make it look like a modern American version of Narnia.

Russell,
Blame movie marketing departments for that. They absolutely, positively SUCK at the way they promote films - touting them as "outrageous, rip-roaring comedies!!!" when they're actually more drama with two jokes in between, making them look like they're "action packed" when the action is actually a pretty small part of the film (think Master and Commander. Watching the trailer for that, you'd think the whole thing was one big, long war, when it was mostly a bunch of guys sitting around talking and singing). When I first saw the trailer for this, I thought they had effed it up - seriously, making it be all about creatures and special effects. They didn't and people going to the theaters who may not know the book are going to be VERY disappointed if that's what they're expecting. The original story is very much intact - the creatures, everything in their imaginations was real to them, so it's been presented as real in the film, but it's made very clear that it's all just in their minds.

Daughter just saw it and absolutely loved it.

Mr. B. - I'm glad to hear it!